organic manures with cabbage

ORGANIC
CABBAGE
FERTILITY TRIAL
AGRONOMIST:
Mr. David Bynoe (BSc.), (MSc.)

BACKGROUND
Organic farming is a holistic management system
which promotes and enhances:
Agro-ecosystem health
Biodiversity
Soil biological cycles
Soil biological activity
Its management practices focus on creating as
much as possible a close cycle .
It provides economic, social, and environmental
benefits.

BACKGROUND
Fertility management remains one of the most
crucial aspects of organic production systems
and has been identified as a priority for
research.
Objectives
• To determine the significance of various
organic amendments for cabbage production
as it relates to the provision of nitrogen,
phosphorous, and potassium.
• To generate scientific information alternative
organic sources of nutrients in the Barbados.

METHODOLOGY
Treatments & Experimental Design:
The experiment was set up in a completely randomized design
with two factors. The factors were soil amendment and quantity
of soil amendment. The crop type selected was cabbage.
Experimental Material:
• Fertilizers: Sheep manure , Chicken manure, and Conventional
Fertilizer
• Crop: Cabbage
• Fabric Mulch
• Organic pest control methods
• Land area: ¼ acre
• Drip irrigation lines

METHODOLOGY
• The soil was analyzed for soil C.E.C, pH,
organic matter, soluble salts and soil
nutrients.
• Nutrient analysis of fertilizers:
FERTILIZER N% P 2 O5% K 2 O%
Sheep
Manure
Chicken
Manure
Conventional
Fertilizer
0.9 1.8 3.2
1.1 3.7 3.2
24 23 18

RESULTS & DISCUSSION

YIELD lbs/acre
RESULTS & DISCUSSION
CABBAGE YIELD PERFOMANCE
35000
30000
25000
20000
15000
10000
5000
0
155 207
FERTILZER QUANTITY
CON
CHIC
SHE
• The results showed clearly that chicken manure
produces higher yields in cabbage than conventional
fertilizer and sheep manure.

• The main effect of application rate is also
insignificant.
RESULTS & DISCUSSION
Dependent
YIELD
Tests of Between-Subjects Effects
Variable:
Source Sig. Partial Eta Squared
FERTQ
FERTT
FERTQ * FERTT
0.411 0.057
0.005 0.585
0.239 0.212
• For an application rate of 155 lbs/acre and 207
lbs/acre the interaction between fertilizer and
fertilizer quantity is insignificant.

RESULTS & DISCUSSION
• Chicken manure produced significantly higher
yields than conventional fertilizer (Sig 0.007 )
and sheep manure (Sig 0.003).
• On average 6638 lbs/acre more than
conventional fertilizer and 7696 lbs/acre more
than sheep manure.
• There is no significant difference in the yield
produced by conventional fertilizer and sheep
manure.

SOIL ANALYSIS
No drastic residual effect on pH, CEC, or
organic matter content after a 3 month period.
Soluble salts for all amendments were all
above 750 ppm.
Sheep manure treatment had the largest
amount of residual phosphorus 65lb/acre
followed by conventional fertilizer with 46
lbs/acre and finally chicken manure with
39lbs/acre.

SOIL ANALYSIS
• Sheep manure and conventional manure had
the same amount of residual nitrogen left within
the soil 23lbs/acre. While chicken manure only
had 21lbs/acre left in the soil.
• As it relates to potassium a similar trend was
followed.

WATER ANALYSIS
pH 7.5
Electrical Conductivity
(µS/cm)
7.9
Calcium (mg/L) 71
Magnesium (mg/L) 27
Sulphate (mg/L) 43
Chloride (mg/L) 232
Sodium (mg/L) 80
Nitrate (mg/L) 7.69
Total Dissolved Solids 43

CONCLUSION &
RECOMENDATIONS
Chicken manure is a very feasible fertilizer
substitute for conventional fertilizer and can be
utilized by both organic farmers and
conventional farmers.
The major cost incurred with the use of chicken
manure are transportation and application cost.

THANK YOU!
THANK YOU!